Migraine Sufferers Scramble for Relief After Excedrin Recall

[Jackson]

Migraine Sufferers Scramble for Relief After Excedrin Recall

Beware of self medicating yourself with Excederin Migraine Tablets. I was such a believer, thinking Excederine was my only hope. That was until I went to a neurologist and found I had Rebound Migraine Headaches because of the excessive Excederine I was taking!

I had to go cold turkey off the Excederne and was given pain medication and it was a task that difficult but today I am headache free! For those times I have a mild headache that I can't work through, I rely on a generic ibuprofen, one small tablet when I was taking about 12 Excederin a day before my visit with the Dr.

So, for Migraine Sufferers, see a good neurologist and you won't be sorry. He changed my life!

 

[waltky]

Granny says Uncle Ferd gives her headaches sometimes...

CDC: Women Twice As Likely to Get Severe Headaches, Migraines
April 25, 2014 -- Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from migraines and severe headaches lasting a day or longer regardless of their age or race, according to the latest statistics released by the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

18.9 percent of women surveyed reported experiencing a severe headache or migraine within the past three months. The same was true of only 9 percent of men. The NHIS--a “household, multistage probability sample survey conducted annually by interviewers of the U.S. Census Bureau for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics”--collected data on 34,525 adults for the 2012 survey.

The NHIS survey also revealed that married people reported fewer migraines/severe headaches than those who were divorced, widowed, never married or living with a partner. Dr. Seymour Diamond, executive chairman of the National Headache Foundation, told CNSNews.com that the higher prevalence of headaches in women is a widely known medical fact. He explained two reasons for this: “There is a hereditary factor and one of those genes is passed more frequently to women. Women also have a larger trigger because their hormone fluctuations are much greater because of their [menstrual] cycles.”

This large discrepancy in the percentages of male and females who suffer from migraine/severe headache is borne out historically. Another CDC study showing data on migraine/severe headache sufferers in 1997, 2010, and 2012 reveals that 101 to 116 percent more women reported severe headaches and migraines than men. And a recent article compiled statistics from the NHIS report and other studies that visually demonstrate the “headache gap” between male and female sufferers. The Mayo Clinic’s website says that women are three times more likely than men to have migraines. While the causes of migraines are still uncertain, the Mayo Clinic speculates that genetic and environmental factors may play a role.

It also lists common migraine triggers, which include hormonal changes in women, certain foods such as aged cheeses and processed food, and various food additives. The NHIS study also found that the higher the income of the respondents, the less likely they were to suffer from migraines or severe headaches. Only 10.7 percent of those who made $100,000 or more complained of severe headache/migraine problems, compared to 17.8 percebt of those who made less than $35,000. And although migraine and severe headache sufferers were pretty evenly distributed throughout the country, the survey found that a higher percentage of sufferers live in rural rather than urban areas.

CDC: Women Twice As Likely to Get Severe Headaches, Migraines | CNS News

 

[waltky]

Help for migraine sufferers coming soon...

The first effective drugs for preventing migraine may be available soon
Jan 7, 2018 - I suffer from migraines. At least once a month, I have excruciating head pain, sensory problems and intermittent bouts of vomiting. The attacks can last for two weeks or more. Migraines have a huge impact on every aspect of my life, so it is with excited anticipation that I await the US Food and Drug Administration’s decision on a new drug that could prevent these attacks. The FDA’s decision is expected in the first half of 2018.

Although migraines affect about 15% of the world’s population – more than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined – advances in treatment have been sluggish, to say the least. The last occurred 30 years ago with the development of triptans. During a migraine, blood vessels in the brain expand and press on nerve endings, causing pain. Triptans were developed to constrict blood vessels and so relieve pain. However, this treatment had mixed results with complete relief in some patients and minimal effects in others.

Personally, I have found triptans to help by slightly reducing symptoms during a migraine, but the attacks still happen. Triptans weren’t developed to prevent migraines, only to reduce the symptoms. Some drugs that are used to reduce seizures in people with epilepsy, such as topiramate and valproate, have been used as preventative treatments for migraine, but they don’t work for everyone and often have a number of side effects. Having tried some of these drugs myself, I can report that the side effects are quite debilitating.

An ounce of prevention

A new class of drugs – calcitonin gene-related peptide inhibitors – has recently been developed that may change this. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a neurotransmitter produced by neurons in the brain. As well as controlling blood flow, studies have shown CGRP levels increase during migraine attacks and slightly lower after treatment with triptans, which gives some relief from symptoms. Human studies also show that people who suffer from migraines are more sensitive to CGRP levels, and high CGRP triggers migraine-like headaches within hours. This prompted the investigation of blocking CGRP as a new migraine therapy.

Monoclonal antibodies – a new type of large molecule drug – that target CGRP or its receptor are the first treatment for migraine to be developed in decades and the first ever for preventing migraine attacks. Results published in the New England Journal of Medicine from large late-stage clinical trials have shown that monthly injections of a drug called erenumab blocks CGRP binding to its receptor which reduced the occurrence of attacks in up to 60% of people. As a bonus, it had hardly any side effects.

You wait for ages and then…